Report: VW Tried to Negotiate With EPA Before TDI Cheat Became Public

News that Volkswagen had installed cheat software on its "clean diesel" vehicles first broke almost six months ago on September 18. The revelation shocked the auto industry and the car-buying public, with repercussions that are still ongoing. But as it turns out, by the time the news went public last fall, the automaker was already trying to strike a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Reuters has obtained a 113-page report, written late last month by a law firm investigating the scandal, that contained information on this alleged deal. On September 3rd, 2015, VW is said to have informed regulators in the U.S. that it had been cheating the country's diesel emissions tests for years, and that it wanted to cut a deal before the news went public.

"The Volkswagen management board had a reason to assume that a consensual solution would be possible with the authorities, that would not have led to significant economic consequences for VW," the Goehmann law firm said in its report.

The report then went onto say "the temporary non-disclosure did not serve the purpose of covering up the breach of compliance (of U.S. rules)," and that VW's attempt to minimize the cost of the scandal was "not only legitimate but almost advisable."

With approximately 11 million total vehicles affected by the scandal and the company now facing fines up to $48 billion in the U.S. alone, it's understandable that VW would try to cut a deal before the story broke.

Still, several shareholders are unhappy with this delay and have filed lawsuits in Germany saying VW took too long to tell its shareholders about the scandal.

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